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I hope everyone is doing well and is stomping out all of certification exams 1-by-1. As for me, I’m moving slow, but with great momentum – if that even makes sense. I haven’t posted in a long long while, but since then all you need to know is I failed my SWITCH exam on my first attempt this past September Boooo! But it’s OK and now I know exactly what I need to work on to ace it next time!

So this lab below is fairly easy, not much involved. In fact you could consider it an advanced CCNA switching lab. Call it what you like, but similar questions, labs and scenarios came up on the SWITCH exam.

Why am I posting it? Simple – as always to share labs! This is the first lab I’ve taken the time to save and compile with tasks and solutions in a long time. So I’m starting out with what is more or less the basic labs and hopefully I can keep that going with the more advanced labs as I complete them.

The lab below is a hybrid of GNS3 and real switches in my lab. I was able to scoop up some 3560 and 2960 switches which are perfect for my studies. Haven’t really looked at any routers cause I’m not doing TSHOOT labs yet. Either way, I believe that the same way I’m linking routers from GNS3 onto my hardware switches is actually enough for the TSHOOT as well. I do this using some USB to ethernet plugs from Rocketfishand these things are awesome! They also support dot1q encapsulation! I’ve been able to do massive labs with these things. For hosts I use VPCS – It’s something I’m just very use to and comfortable with using right now.

Scenario: R0 is connected to R1, R2 and R3 through DS3 (or OC3). Additionally R1, R2 And R3 are connected by Metro-Ethernet (simulated by SW1). All interfaces are in EIGRP 1. In case DS3 R0-R1 is broken traffic from R0 (source 100.100.100.100) to R1 (destination 1.1.1.1) should be shared between remaining two DS3s:

How are we doing? So! As for me, I’ve beat the deadline for my CCNA expiration as well as the BSCI deadline! Wohoo! Very happy to say the least. Right now I’m working on SWITCH and hope to have this completed by the end of September..

There is a new site online that took the idea of this site (though they say they didn’t know this site existed) and is doing it 100 times better. If I could redo what I started here, I’d definitely do it a little differently today. But hey, at the time I was the only site. Anyway – the new GNS3 lab site dedicated and full of GNS3 labs is called GNS3-Vault and you can check it out at http://www.gns3vault.com .. Go check it out – they are doing a far better job with current labs than I can.

As for me, I’m studying very hard with the SWITCH studies and a new technical/study/personal blog at http://echoreplypackets.net. I’m sure I’ll be even more busy when I hit TSHOOT. I’m not saying I’m taking the site down or stopping labs, but this will end up becoming the site where I upload labs that I’ve used my own as well as labs that you guys contribute more than a lab supplying site.

GNS3 Vault is a great site! Go over and support it! Plenty of good labs.

So here is something that can very well take some time to come around the corner, but be here just like that and impact all of us. The new Cisco IOS (15.0) licensing methods are potentially putting our educational ability to study using GNS3/Dynamips at risk of coming to an end.

Here is another one of the final Cisco Network Academy labs. This one involves BGP and EIGRP. A lot of good tasks in this case scenario. I wish that they would have had many more lab scenarios since they are exactly whats on the lab. There definitely needs to be a new lab book developed – Maybe I’ll create one? Kidding!

So here is another lab I put together based on some studies and reading recently. I basically put together the scenario, so if it’s lacking conveying the scenario in a professional manner, I apologize

This is basically a simple route redistribution and route manipulation lab. Simple, but requires a few steps that will test your ability to adapt to an already deployed network while implementing a new routing protocol.

Ok – So if you’re not up yet on the Packet Pushers, you’re totally missing out on some good network discussion (usually) hosted by @Etherealmind, @ECBanks & @Danhughes1234ie. The greatness about this podcast is it’s like sitting around and chatting it up with guys in your office or at a tech conference or on a project with other project team members – Thats how I see it at least

There is no other agenda to these podcasts except talking about the topics. There is no vendor target, no advertisements, no bias – though we are all Cisco minded They cover subjects such as DDoS, IOS Licensing concerns, Dynamips, MPLS basics, Technical interview tips, datacenter switching and the list goes on!

Overall it’s a great show to listen to and best of all, you may know all the guests on the show from Twitter. So it feels even more realistic since you may have tweeted with these folks for some time now.

I enjoy the show very much and I enjoy the guests even more! I recommend you check out the Packet Pushers Podcasts! Trust me, you will love it!

So, you read in the latest release notes of GNS3 0.7.2 the ability to simulate PCs/Hosts/Workstation/Computers, etc and you dont know where to begin? Well, fellow Moderator of the GNS3 forums Kage, put together a very simple, clear and step by step document to getting started.

How are we doing? I’m continuing on working to complete this lab book and all the labs

This is another OSPF related lab from the Cisco Networking Academy Lab Portfolio. No EIGRP or other protocols involved. This lab involves the use of sub-interfaces, which changes your frame-relay statements – watch out and don’t get too confused

I perform all of these labs on my own using my own knowledge and experience (warning and disclaimer). They may very well be implemented differently than a method you might choose. So long as it meets the requirements and works, essentially it’s acceptable (In my feeble opinion). But if you notice a terribly or complicated method used by me to achieve the goals and you feel yours is much easier, makes sense or is the standard; please do share – I’m always open to learning